Cosworth 190E 2.3-16

[Tbolt]

i really like the old 190e. how good would one be for a DD? ive been thinking of making a 190e a daily and my e30 a straight cage'd racer

[88e30is]

After I had my 300te 4matic wagon I have dreamed about owning a 190e. I love the way they look.

[Emre]

i really like the old 190e. how good would one be for a DD? ive been thinking of making a 190e a daily and my e30 a straight cage'd racer

I own a Mercedes (an '88 560SL roadster), so I'm on the M-B forums quite a lot. And I've been a 2.3/2.5-16 Cossie fan for years. Now that I'm active on various M-B forums, I've learned even more about them.

Based on everything I've heard, the US-market 2.3-16 would NOT make a very good daily driver. There is just too much maintenance and parts are very expensive. It would be like running a tuned E30 M3 as your daily...with the added expense of dodgy electronics, vacuum-operated accessories, even higher parts prices, significantly less parts availability, and a less reliable engine. Plus, you'd be running a very rare (in North America) car into the ground.

Personally, I wouldn't do it. Anyway, a US-market 2.3-16 weighs 3100 lbs and only puts out 165 hp. So, it's a sluggish car around town. If you like the W201, you'd be better off with a six-cylinder model. Or, just go with a modern classic, like the 500SEC (or 560SEC) big coupe:



Or do what I did and look for a clean R107 roadster:

[tjts1]

All 190e (including the 16 valve) have one major weak point: Kjet
This is one of the best candidates for Megasquirt. Several people have installed MS on 16v engines have seen an extra 30-40hp right off the bat. I installed MS on a 8 valve engine 190e and the change was dramatic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdKJawKNU5Q

You can buy these cars for next to nothing because there are very few mechanics that still know how to diagnose and repair Kjet. The parts are also hard to come by and expensive. The rest of the car was way ahead of its time.